At the forefront are the travel media which report the Reed Dance as a colourful spectacle with a tradition going back centuries.
A typical example of the gushing hyperbole was published
on the website Travel Video News on 24 July 2013. It reported, ‘[Y]oung women from all
over Swaziland and beyond her borders converge on the royal residence in
Ludzidzini for this momentous occasion’. They carry newly-cut reeds to protect
the Queen Mother’s residence.
‘Residents of this tiny mountainous Kingdom are intensely
proud of their deep culture and taking part in the Festival is a proud and
privileged moment for all the family.’
It went on, ‘The Umhlanga Festival is a visual spectacle
that bonds this small but perfectly formed nation. Its ever- increasing
popularity defies the apparent decline of traditional cultures elsewhere in
Africa. Witnessing this festival is a truly unique experience.’
The report was wrong in almost every detail, except for
the undeniable fact that the Reed Dance takes place (it will be held in August
or September: at the king’s pleasure.) The ceremony is not centuries old (it
started under the present king’s reign) and the festival is far from a
privileged moment for all the family.
The sinister nature of the Reed Dance was revealed last
year (2012) when about 500 children were ordered to sing a song vilifying
political parties. This was part of a clampdown on dissent in the kingdom,
where King Mswati rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.
This children were taught a song to sing at the dance
which had lyrics that when translated into English said political parties ‘set
people against each other’ and said that if political parties were allowed to
exist in the kingdom the king’s people ‘could start fighting each other’.
Political parties are banned in Swaziland, but ahead of this
year’s national election there is increasing pressure from pro-democrats for
this to change. Some traditional authorities also believe that support for the
present system that puts them in control is on the wane. In Swaziland pro-democracy
demonstrations have been attacked by police and state security forces.
Last year about 500 children were chosen from all 350
chiefdoms in Swaziland to attend rehearsals at Ludzidzini Royal Residence and
the Correctional Services Institution in Matsapha to learn the song. They were
then ordered to return to their homes and teach the words to other girls in
their chiefdoms.
Lobayeni Dlamini, who worked with the girls (usually
referred to as ‘maidens’) on the song told the Times of Swaziland, there were fewer people who stood up to defend
the present political system in Swaziland and therefore there was a strong need
to send a message.
This was not the only year in which children were
compelled to sing the king’s praises. In 2009, the South Africa Press Association reported, ‘During the
four-hour event, children sang songs which glorified Mswati and condemned his
enemies.
‘“This land is your land our king, your enemies want to destroy you,” they sang.’
‘“This land is your land our king, your enemies want to destroy you,” they sang.’
Observers inside Swaziland also doubt that the girls who
are expected to dance half-naked in front of the king do not choose to attend
of their own free will. The chiefs in the rural areas where they live require
them to attend and the girls’ families can be victimised if they do not go.
Musa Hlophe, a regular columnist for the Times of Swaziland, one of the few
newspapers in the kingdom not owned by King Mswati, commented after one Reed
Dance that many of the girls who attended went because it was their only chance
to get a decent meal.
Hlophe wrote, ‘Judging from the appearances of these
dancing girls, one may be fooled into thinking all is well in the kingdom of
Eswatini [Swaziland].
‘What will be hidden to the unsuspecting outsider is that
most of these girls will have had a balanced meal while at the Reed Dance. That
most of these girls (about 80 per cent of them) come from families who are
among the 500,000 people who survive on food aid [out of a population of about
1.3 million]. After all the glamour of this week’s events, these girls return
to grinding poverty by Tuesday or Wednesday or whenever their masters feel they
are now disposable, having fulfilled their responsibilities to our rulers and
their visitors.
‘What the unsuspecting visitors do not know is that
Swaziland is a country in serious crisis. It is said we are still number one in
the world, with the highest HIV prevalence rates, notwithstanding the slight
reduction, We are a country with diminishing opportunities for foreign direct
investments, with 70 per cent of the country’s population living on less than
one dollar a day.
‘Further compounded by one of the severest drought in
living memory, Swaziland would not be expected to be celebrating the way it
seems to be just now. The hundreds of trucks ferrying the thousands of girls to
Ludzidzini could have been used to deliver the much needed water and foodstuff
to the starving population.
‘But who counts in Swaziland are the people among the
ruling elite. In Swaziland, the poor have no rights or needs of their own. The
ruling elite will now and again run charities for the poor and elderly and the
poor take these as some form of generosity by their masters.’
In 2009, the Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by the king, reported that special
security squads had to be formed to ensure that the girls attended the Reed
Dance ceremony. It transpired that they took the trip from their villages, but
instead of dancing before the king they chose to spend their time in other
pursuits.
Nothando
Nhlengethwa, one of the people in charge of the maidens, told the newspaper,
security forces checked up on the maidens. Each chiefdom had been told to
supply a list of the names of those who leave the villages to attend. This list
was then checked on a daily basis to ensure that the girls did in fact arrive
at the reed dance and participated fully.
See also
REED DANCE LONE VOICE FROM HOME
SWAZIS FORCED TO DANCE FOR THE KING
Your statement that the Reed Dance "ceremony is not centuries old (it started under the present king’s reign)" is not correct as I attended a Reed Dance ceremony in the late 1970's when the Kingdom was still being ruled by King Sobhuza II
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